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Canada midfielder Ismaël Koné felt like he had let the country down as he lay stricken on the pitch with a broken leg, but he has remained around the squad to offer his support ahead of their World Cup last-16 game against Morocco in Houston on Saturday.
Koné, 24, had emergency surgery following a challenge by Qatar’s Assim Madibo, who received a five-match ban, in their second group match, but was quickly reunited with teammates and continues to be part of their World Cup journey.
“I’m just thinking … not now,” he said in a letter to The Players’ Tribune. “I wasn’t worried about myself. No one has to worry about me.”
He said he would return upon finishing rehab, “better than I ever was.”
“But the thing I couldn’t stop thinking about, it’s how disappointed I was not to get to help our team on the field anymore, while we’re on this mission together. Where Canada football has been coming and coming and coming and now it’s here.”
He spoke about the moment he got injured: “And now I’m hearing the entire stadium go quiet, 50,000 fans.
“I just felt like I was letting the whole country down.”
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Support has been shocking, Koné says
Koné said he has been shocked at the level of support he has received since the injury.
“The amount of messages I’m receiving just from people all across Canada, who are behind this team, so they’re behind me, and wanting to make sure I’m OK.
“Or the things I’m hearing now in person, when fans are seeing me on crutches at the games. Obviously I knew there’d be support, but the level has kind of shocked me a bit,” he said.
He also mentioned telling his doctors that he’d worked his whole life for this career, and that he needed to return to the field for his team.
“So let’s have an amazing surgery. Operate like I’m your brother or son,” he recalled telling them.
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